Telephone system and apparatus



3- sheets-sheen' 1.

(No Model.)

C. E. CHINNO'OK.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM AND APPARATUS. No. 260,939. Patented July 1,1, 1882.

asw-i//e/' 'ascw'ln' A A i N. PEYERS, Pnnmumugmpher, wauhngmn. D4 C.

(No Model.) 3 Sheetse-Sheet 2.

C. E. GHINNUCK.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

N0.260,939. Patented July 11, 1882.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

0. E. CHINNOCK.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

110.269,93), Patented July 11, 1882.

*y'L'ePJ N. PETERS Pnmumognphnr. wnmngm. 1m;

" UNITED STATES PATENT Carica.

CHARLES OHINNOOK, or BROOKLYN, New YORK.

TELEPHONE SYS'l'ElVl AND APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,939, dated July 11, 1882. Application tiled April S, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. CHINNOOK, Aof Brooklyn, in Kings county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Telephones, of which the following is a specification..

The improvement consists in the combination,'in atelephone system, of a central office,

a complete metallic circuit comprisingpairs ofv wires constituting loops extending between the central oftice and the places of business or residence of subscribers, means in the central ottiee whereby the subscribers may indicate to an attendant there that they desire to be put in communication with others, and means whereby pairs of wires or loops which extend between the subscribers and the central oiiice may be removed from the circuit aforesaid, the said circuit may be closed at the place ot' removal, and the subscribers thus cut out of the circuit may be put into communication.

The improvement also consists in the combination, in a telephone system, of a central office, a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires or loops extending to the central oflice and to theplacesof business or resi- Vdence of subscribers, means in the central office wherebyr the subscribers may indicate to an attendant there that they desire to be pnt in communication with others, and means whereby pairs of wires or loops which extend between these subscribers and the central oice may be removed from the circuit aforesaid, the said circuit may be closed at the place of removal, and the removed pairs of wires or loops may be united together to form a private complete metallic circuit, ai'ording communication between the subscribers to whom the pairs of wires or loops so removed and united belong.

The improvement also consists in the combination, with telephone-instruments in a central office and at subscribers places ot' business or residence, ot a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs ot" wires constituting loops extending between the central office and the several subscribers places of business or residence, means whereby any of the said pairs of wires or loops may be removed from the circuit, and means whereby, on the removal of any of the said pairs of wires, the circuit may be closed at the place of their removal. Preferably the means for closing the circuit will operate automatically on the removal of the said pairs of wires.

The improvement also consists in the cornbination,with telel'ihone-instruments in a central oflice and at subscribers places of business or residence, of a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires constituting loops extending between the central office and subscribers places of business or residence, means whereby any of the said pairs of wires or loops may be removed from the circuit and connected electrically with another pair of the said wires or loops, and means for closiugthe said circuit at the points whence the said pairs ot' wires or loops were removed from it.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view ot' a telephonie apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrative thereof, and Fig. 3 is adiagram illustrative of other features ofthe same.l

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

I have drawn lines around all the devices which are located in the several subscribers places of business or residence, and marked said lines with the word subscriberJ Likewise l have drawn aline around all the devices which are arranged in the central office, and marked the line with the words central office to conduce to a clear understanding ot' my improvement.

A designates a number of telephone-transmitters severally located at subscribers houses or places of business. These transmitters may be of any approved kind.

The ends of the primary wire of the induction-coil of each transmitter are connected by a wire, B, with a battery, C, and two contactpieces,'a b.

From one end of the secondary wire of the induction-coil a wire, B', extends to a telephone-receiver, D. A wire, B2, extends from this receiver to the contact-piecec of a switch, E. From an opposite contact-piece, d, a wire, B3, leads to one end of the wire of the electromagnet of an electro-magnetic call-bell, F, ar-

ranged on the box of the telephone-transmit- IOO ter. A wire, B3, leads from the other end of the electro-magnet of this call-bell to a wire, B5, which extends from the other end of the secondary wire ofthe induction-coil to the central ofice.

The switch E consists of a metallic bar which is suspended by a metallic spring, E', at the upper end, and is provided at the lower end with a hook on which the telephone-receiver D may be hung.

To the switch-bar E is attached a metallic cross-bar, E3, having afxed to it at one end a metallic block, E3, which, however, is insulated from it by a piece otl insulating material, e. A wire, BG, extends from the spring E to the central oftlce.

When the telephone-receiver is hung on the hook ot the switch-bar E, the latter is drawn down so that its crossbar E2 breaks contact with the contact-piece c and makes contact with the contact-piece d, and the block E3 breaks contact with the contact-piecesa b. The electric circuit then extends along the wire BG to the spring E', thence along the switch-bar E toits cross-bar E3, thence to the contactpiece d, thence along the wire B3 to the electro-magnet of the call-bell F, and thence along the wire B5 back to the central o'ice, The call-bell F is then in circuit and the telephonetransmitter A and receiver D are out of circuit. When, however, the telephone-receiver is taken od' the hook of the switch-bar E, the latter, under the influence of the spring E', rises, so that its cross-bar breaks contact with the contact-piece cl and makes contact with the contact-piece c, and the block E3 makes contact with the contact-pieces a b. The circuit then extends along the wire B6 to the spring E', thence to the bar E, thence to the crossbar E3, thence to the contact-point c, thence along the wire B2 to the receiver D, thence along the wire B', thence through the second ary wire of the inductioncoil, and thence along the wire B5 back to the central oflice. The block E3 at the same time, by connecting the contact-pieces a b, completes the circuit through the primary wire of the induction-coil. The call-bell F is then out of circuit and the telephone-transmitter A and receiver D are in circuit.

From the. wires B5 BG, adjacent to the tele phone transmitter and receiver branch wires b5 b3 extend to contact-pieces g. A springswitch, G, connected with a ground-wire, H, is

plates are electrically connected with the flexible extensions of the Wires B5 B6. Except when subscribers are put in communication with one another, the plugs I are inserted in holesj in a switch-board, J. These holesjare furnished with pairs ot' metal contact-pieces k k', which, when the plugs are inserted in the holes, make electrical contact with their plates h5 h, but which, when the plugs are withdrawn, spring together and make electrical contact with one another. The contact-pieces k ot' each pair ot contact-pieces k 7c are connected by wires k2 with the contact-piecesk of the Vadjacent pair of said contact-pieces. The outer contact-pieces, k la', of the pairs which are nearest the ends of the switch-board are connected by wires K K with the secondary wire of the induction-coil ot' a telephone-transmitter, Il, and with a telephone-receiver, M, both ot' which instruments are located in the central oce. The primary wire of theinduction-coil of the telephone-transmitter L is connected by a wire, K3, with a battery, K3.

On' the switch-board J are metal bars ll', arranged in pairs close together, and secured at the ends in such manner as to be insulated from each other. The spaces between the pairs of bars are such that the plugs I may be inserted between them.

To causevthe bars to hug the plugs tightly when the latter are inserted between them thc spaces between the bars of each pair are preferably somewhat narrower than the plugs, so that when the plugs are inserted the bars will be slightly spread apart.

The circuit extends along the wire K to the first contactpiece, k, thence to the plate h6 of the contiguous plng'I, thence along the subscribers wire B3, which is connected to that plug, thence back along the correspondingwire, B5, to the plate h5 of said plug, and from this plate h5 to the contiguous contact-piece k. From this contact-piece 7c the circuit extends along the wire 7c3,which connects said contactpiece with the contact-piece k of the next pair ot'contact-picces. Thence it extends along the plate h6 of the plug I, which lits between said pair of contact-pieces, to the wire B3, which is connected with said plate, then back along the wire B3 to the plate h5 of said plug, and thence to the contact-piece 7c', against which the said plate bears. In the same manneritextends to the remaining pairs of contact-pieceskk, plugs I, and wires B6 B5. The contact-piece k of the last pair of contact-pieces is connected to the wire K. Thus it Will be seen that the circuit extends from the central otlice to the several subscribers without going through the earth at all. If any of the plugs I are withdrawn from their contact-pieces 7c k', the latter make contact with each other and continue the circuit to the next plug.

-The attendant in the central office has of course to constantly keep his receiver M to his ear. Any subscriber desiring to communicate with another subscriber takes down his tele= IOC and h1's telephone-transmitter in circuit. then tells the attendant in the central officev phone-receiver and applies itto his ear, thereby also switching his call-bell out of circuit He what subscriber he desires to converse with. The attendant then attracts the attention of -the latter by operating his call-bell and puts the two subscribers into communication with each other by withdrawing the plugs I from the holes j in the switch-board and inserting them between a pair of bars, l l. Communication is thus established between two sub` scribers by a private or special circuit, no part of which passes or is continued through the earth.

' rIhe bar l of each pair of bars l Z is connected 'by a wire, n, to one end of the coils of electromagnets p comprised in an electro-magnetic annunciator, N, the otherend ot' said coils being connected with a battery and the ground by a wire, o. The armature q ot' the annunciator is pivoted to its support and normally raised f from the electro-magnets by a spring, r. It

carries beyond the pivot a hook, s, which nor- -mally engages with the top of a plate, t, that is hinged in place at the bottom and has a tendency to drop forward.

When the subscribers who were conversing no longer desire to remain in communication either pushes his spring-switch Gdown on its contact-pieces g, whereupon a circutis established from the ground-wire H along either the wire B5 or B6 to the bar l, thence along the wire n to the electro-magnetic annunciator N, and thence along the wire o to the ground. Thereupon the armatureq is attracted by the electro-magnets, the hook a is disengaged from the plate t, and the latter drops forward and exhibits a number indicative of the pair of bars l Z' with which the annunciator is connected. The attendant in the central oice then removes the plugs I of these subscribers wires from the bars l l/ and replaces them in the holes j.

In order that my improvement may be the jmore clearly understood, I will briefly recapitulate its primary'features, making reference to the diagram, Fig. 2. A designates the sub- B5 B6 repreoffice. K K' are wires leading to the attendants telephone-instruments at the central oflice.

It will be seen that a complete metallic circuit is obtained with but two wires extending between the central office and each subscriber.

All earth-currents arel therefore totally eliminated and much of the induction ordinarily 'experienced is obviated.

rlhe dotted lines x x indicate the connection vwhich is made between two subscribers when their plugs I are inserted between a pair of bars ll. -1t will be seen that in this way a complete metallic circuit is formed between two subscribers by means of their same two wires.

The same good results are due to this contrl plete metallic circuit as to the main circuit which extends tothe central office.

The dotted lines z z indicate the continuation of the main circuit by the contact-pieces 7c k at the place whence the .two 'subscribers who were put into communication with each other were withdrawn from the main circuit.

In brief, it may be said that a single continuous metallic circuit extends from the cen. tral office to and from each of the subscribers. The wires leading to the several subscribers may be regarded as bights or loops in the main circuit.

I do not wish to confine myself to the use of both the branch wires b5 116, as either can be made to suffice; but I prefer to use both, as then the plugs I' can be inserted between the pairs of bars l l'without regardto which of their plates h5 h6 makes contact with the bar l, so as to make it possible to operate the annunciator N.

Preferably I employ, in connection with the cased flexible extensions of the wires B5 B6, weights W, attached to pulleys which travel on the said flexible extensions. These weights are advantageous because they keep the same taut and prevent them from becoming entangled.

As all the subscribers wires are included in the main circuit, save while they are connected 'to establish communication between them Aand 'other subscribers, it is obvious that when any subscriber lifts his receiver off its switch-bar and places it to his ear preparatory to conversing with the attendant at the central office he can hear ang order given to the attendant by another subscriber` and can defer beginning conversation with the attendant until that order is finished. Thus much confusion in the giving of orders to the attendant may be avoided. Of course when two subscribers a-re put in communication in the manner before explained they have a private circuit, and noth- -ing they may then say will be heard by other subscribers.

I will now proceed to describe with reference to Fig. 3'tlie means whereby communication is afforded between diterentcentral offices.

I have here shown twocentral offices pro-v office No. 1 the secondary wire of the indue# tion-coil of the transmitter L andthe receiver M are connected to wires 0 O', which termi nate in a plug, I', like the plugs I, heretofore described, titting in a hole, j', in the switchboard J of central office No. 2. A wire, O2,

ICO

connects the primary wire ot' the said transmitter L with-a battery, O3.

Pairs of wires P P extend between the central ofces and are provided with plugs I. The plugs which are at one end of these wires t in holes j in the switch-board J of central office No. 2, and the plugs 1, which are at the other end of these wires, tit in metallic sockets s in the switch-board J ot' central office No.1. The holes j are provided with contactpieces, which are similar to those in the holes j, and act in conjunction with the plates of the adjacent plugs I', as do the contact-pieces 7c k in conjunction with the plates ot' the plugs I. Adjacent con tact-pieces of the holesj are con- A nected by intermediate wires.

The sockets s otl the switch-board J in central ofce No. l continue the electric circuit between the plates of the plugs l, which tit in them.

Wires Q Q connect the contact-pieces of the holes j' nearest the ends of the switch-board with the secondary wire of the induction'coil ot' the transmitter L in central oiiice No. 2, and with the receiver L in said office.

A wire, Q2, connects the primary wire ofthe induction-coil of the transmitter just mentioned with a battery, Q3. I

It will be seen that the wires 0 0', P P', and Q Q are thus included in acontinuous circuit.

When one of the subscribers-say, for instance, subscriber No. l, ot' central office No. 2--desires to communicate with one of the subscribers-say, for instance, subscriberNo. 2 of central oice No. l-the attendant listening at the receiver M in the central office rstnamed notifies the attendant at the receiver M in the other central office, and thereupon the plugs I of a pair of the wires PP are inserted in corresponding pairs of bars in the two central offices and the plugs I of the wires B B" of thel subscribers are inserted in the same pairs of bars. Thus a complete metallic circuit is formed between the two subscribers.

I do not confine myself to this combination ot parts, as the wires O O may be permanently connected with the wires Q Q', and the wires P P need not be in circuit therewith. In such case the wires P P will never be in circuit except when used to establish communication between subscribers.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a telephone system, the combination of a central office, a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires constituting loops extending between the central office and the places ot' business or residence of subscribers, meansin the central office whereby the subscribers may indicate to an attendant there that they desire to be putin communication with others, and means whereby pairs of wires or loops which extend between the subscribers and the central office may be removed'from the circuit aforesaid, the said circuit may be closed at the place ot removal, and the subscribers thus cut out of the circuit may be put into communication, substantially as specified.

2. In a telephone system, the combination ot'a central oice, a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires or loops extending ,to the central office and to the places of business or residence ot' subscribers, means in the central oice whereby the subscribers may indicate to the attendant there that they desire to be put in communication with others, and means whereby pairs of wires or loops which extend between these subscribers and the central otce may be removed from the circuit aforesaid, the said circuit may be closed at the place ot" removal, and the removed pairs of wires or loops may be united to form a private complete metallic circuit, affording communication between the subscribers to whom the pairs of wires or loops so removed and united belong` substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with telephone-instruments in a central office and at subscribers places ot' business or residence, of a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs ot' wires constituting loops extending between the central ofce and the several subscribers places of business or residence, means whereby any of the said pairs of wires or loops may be removed from the circuit, and means whereby, on the removal of any ot' the-said pairs of wires or loops, the circuit may be closed at the place of their removal, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with telephone-instruments in a central ofce and at subscribers places ot' business or residence, of a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires constituting loops extending between the central IOO otlice and the subscribers7 places ot' business or residence, means whereby any of the said pairs of wires or loops may be removed from the circuit, and means whereby, on the removal of any of the said pairs of wires or loops, the circuit will be automatically closed at the place of their removal, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with telephone-instruments in a central office and at subscribers places ot' business or residence, of a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires extending between the central oflice and the subscribers places of business or residence, plugs I, provided with metallic plates connected with the pairs of wires and insulated from each other, and the contact -pieces lo c, substantially as specified.

6. The combination, with telephone-instruments in a central oice and at subscribers places of business or residence, of a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires constituting loops extending between the central otlice and subscribers places of business or residence, means whereby any ot' the said pairs of wires or loops may be removed from the circuit and connected clectnically with another pair of the said wires or loops, and means for closing.

' i *LA AA Lhaving metallic plates connected to the pairs of wires,butinsulated from each other, the contact-pieces 1c k', and the pairs of bars Z l', substantially as specified.

8. The combination, with telephone-instruments iu a central ofce and at subscribers places of business or residence, of a complete metallic circuit comprising pairs of wires eX- tending between the central oftce and subscribers places of business or residence, the plugs I, having metallic plates connected to the pairs of wires, but insulated from each other, the contact-pieces k k, the pairs of bars l and the annunciators N, substantially as specified.

C. E. CHINNOCK.

Witnesses:

T. J. KEANE, Y J AMES R. BOWEN. 

